Swarthmore College

Swarthmore College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the United States. It is highly selective and is considered to be one of the country's top liberal arts colleges. All of its approximately 1,500 students are undergraduates. Swarthmore is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, around 11 miles (17.7km) southwest of Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1864 by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Quakers. Swarthmore dropped its religious affiliation and became officially non-sectarian in the early 20th century. However, strong Quaker influences remain, including the tradition of holding "collections," a strong focus on the college as a community, and weekly Quaker services at the local Quaker meetinghouse, which is located on campus. The college has been coeducational since its founding.

Academics

Swarthmore is consistently rated as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. Swarthmore has also never fallen out of first place as the most selective liberal arts college in the country, for the entire period that U.S. News has ranked selectivity.

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The school is particularly noted for its External Examiners Honors program, which allows students to take intense, double-credit seminars from their junior year and start writing honors theses without any immediate examination. At the end of their senior year, the honors students take oral and written examinations conducted by outside experts.

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Swarthmore is a member of the Tri-College consortium of liberal arts colleges, along with Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College. The consortium as a whole is additionally affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania.

Related Topics:
Bryn Mawr College - Haverford College - University of Pennsylvania

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